Tag Archives: government

Kyrgyz government sacks mayor

DEC. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kyrgyz authorities sacked the powerful mayor of Osh, Melis Myrzakmatov, a few days after he attended a major anti-government rally.

It’s a bold, but also risky, move by the government.

The 44-year-old Mr Myrzakmatov is a firebrand nationalist, known for ignoring the central government in Bishkek. He’d held power in Osh since January 2009 and has been a headache for the national government ever since the ouster of former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in 2010.

Since then the southern power groups have jostled for influence with their northern adversaries. In June 2010 this came to a head with inter-ethnic fighting between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Some analysts blamed local regional chiefs, including Mr Myrzakmatov, for stirring the trouble.

On Dec. 3, a few days after clashes with police, a reported 3,000 demonstrators gathered in Osh to call for the release of popular southern politician, Akhmatbek Keldibekov. Police had arrested Mr Keldibekov, a former Speaker of the parliament, in November on corruption charges.

By deposing Mr Myrzakmatov, who attended the rally, the government probably hopes to cut a major agitator out of the equation and take the momentum out of the protests. Mr Myrzakmatov, though, is a wily opponent and has already said that he will return to front-line politics.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Karimov boosts parliament powers in Uzbekistan

DEC. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — At a ceremony to mark the 21st anniversary of Uzbekistan’s Constitution, President Islam Karimov played the role of the democrat.

He said he wanted Parliament to be stronger and to play a more defined role in public life. What he wanted to see, he said, was parliament monitoring both ministers and the decision-making process. To extend the Uzbek parliament’s reach and power, Mr Karimov said he would have to alter with the country’s already much tinkered with constitution.

Mr Karimov, though, is not known as a democrat and he was paying only lip-service to the idea of a powerful parliament. In reality it rubber stamps his decisions.

For foreign businesses and analysts, the underlying message of Mr Karimov’s latest pronouncement is that he is happy to alter Uzbekistan’s constitution to give more window dressing to the idea that parliamentary democracy exists in Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Rakhmon continues reshuffle in Tajikistan

NOV. 30 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon continued his cabinet re-shuffle after winning an election last month by replacing the foreign minister, finance minister and transport minister. Media also reported that Mr Rakhmon had promoted his son to head the Customs Committee, a lucrative post in corruption-rife Tajikistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

Azerbaijan re-commissions bombers

NOV. 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan will re-commission its 10 Su-24 bombers, withdrawn from service in 2008, media reported quoting unnamed military sources. The news is more evidence that Azerbaijan is spending heavily on its armed forces. It is still officially at war with Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno- Karabakh.

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(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)

Rakhmon sacks Tajik defence minister

NOV. 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon replaced his long-serving defence minister Sherali Khairulloyev less than a year before NATO withdraws from neighbouring Afghanistan.

The West and Russia are relying on Tajikistan to buffer the spread north of the Taliban after US-led forces leave Afghanistan and the dismissal of Mr Khairulloyev may concern them.

Russia is particularly worried about Taliban encroachment into Central Asia and has boosted its military contingent in Tajikistan. The 65-year-old Mr Khairulloyev had been defence minister in Tajikistan since 1995. Sherali Mirzo, head of Tajikistan’s Border Guards Service and 20 years his junior, will replace him. No reason was given for the change.

Mr Khairulloyev’s notoriety is not limited to being Tajikistan’s defence minister. He shot to fame in 2010 as the star of one of the more entertaining US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks. A 2006 memo written by the then US ambassador to Dushanbe described a drinking session with Mr Khairulloyev.

“By the end of the alcohol-sodden lunch, the minister (Mr Khairulloyev) was slurring and unsteady on his feet,” the memo read. The memo importantly recorded that even in 2006 Mr Khairulloyev said he expected to be fired by Mr Rakhmon at any moment.

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(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)

Kyrgyz police arrests oppositioner

NOV. 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Kyrgyzstan arrested Akmatbek Keldibekov, an opposition leader, for alleged abuse of office and corruption. The arrest of Mr Keldibekov triggered demonstrations calling for his release. Kyrgyzstan is polarised between the pro-government north and the opposition stronghold in the south.

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(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)

Kazakhstan Development Bank chief quits

NOV. 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Nurlan Kussainov, the CEO of the state-owned Kazakhstan Development Bank, resigned, local media reported. Media reports didn’t specify why Mr Kussainov quit the post he had held since April 2011. Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna controls the Kazakhstan Development Bank.

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(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)

Kazakhstan approves luxury tax

NOV. 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament passed a so-called luxury tax that will increase excise duty on cigarettes and alcohol. The increase in excise duty is designed to bring prices of hard alcohol and cigarettes in Kazakhstan in line with Russia and Belarus, its Customs Unions partners.

(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)

Uztransgaz’s head sacked

NOV. 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek government fired the head of its gas pipeline monopoly Uztransgaz, Tulyagan Jurayev, less than a month after the head of Uzbekneftegas, the state energy company, was also sacked. It’s unclear why Mr Jurayev was sacked. Analysts said it may be part of a power struggle in Uzbekistan.

(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)

Kazakhstan names new finance minister

NOV. 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has made clear he wants to transform, relatively, Kazakhstan’s economy.

He wants to sell stakes in the three banks that the state had to bail out in the 2008/9 global financial crisis, unify and nationalise Kazakhstan’s pension schemes and launch a handful of companies onto the stock exchange.

There’s a lot to do and that, analysts said, is probably the driving force behind his recent reshuffle.

Last month Mr Nazarbayev installed Kairat Kelimbetov, well-known for his loyalty, as head of the Kazakh Central Bank. Analysts also said the promotion on Nov. 5 of Bakhyt Sultanov from deputy head of the presidential administration to finance minister was driven by a similar motivation.

“The new budget, which carried an increase in taxation, the lifting of the pension age and the possible elimination of the so-called new-born cheque are controversial matters,” said Nygmet Ibadildin an Almaty-based analyst. “The promotion (of Sultanov) shows that the president is fully in control.”

Eldar Madumarov, an economics professor in Almaty, agreed. He also said that Bolat Zhamishev’s move from finance minister to regional development minister should be considered a promotion and not a demotion.

“Zhamishev is deemed to be responsible and was moved to be regional development minister,” he said.

Since clashes between protesters and police in 2011 killed 15 people in western Kazakhstan, the Kazakh government has prioritised improving life in the regions.

(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)